Our policy

This Policy explains when and why we collect personal data about the people who use our services, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep that information secure.

This policy may be revised or updated. If you have an existing service agreement with us, we will advise you if this happens. You can also check this page at any time to ensure you still agree with the terms outlined below.

Contacting Us

For any questions regarding this policy, our privacy practices, the use of your personal data, or exercising your rights over your personal data, please contact us by one of the following methods:

Email: [email protected]

Online form: Contact us here

Post:

Data Protection Officer
Alzheimer Scotland
160 Dundee Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1DQ

Telephone:  0131 243 1453

Who are we?

Alzheimer Scotland - Action on Dementia, is the leading dementia organisation in Scotland. We campaign for the rights of people with dementia and their families and provide an extensive range of innovative and personalised support services. Our aims are:

  • to be the national and local voice of and for people with dementia and their carers in Scotland;
  • to improve public policies for the benefit of people with dementia and their carers;
  • to provide and to secure the provision of high quality services for people with dementia;
  • to provide and to secure the provision of high quality services for carers of people with dementia.

Alzheimer Scotland - Action on Dementia is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland 149069. Recognised as a charity by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, no. SC022315. Alzheimer Scotland is the Data Controller for all personal data collected from you.

Our online shop is operated by Dementia Scotland Ltd., a wholly owned trading company of Alzheimer Scotland.

How do we collect personal data from you?

We collect data both from and about you when you start to use our services and support, and while we continue to provide services and support to you. Depending on your relationship with us, we may also collect personal data about you from your next-of-kin, local authorities, carers and health professionals.

What type of data is collected from you?

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:

  • Identity Data - this includes your first and last name, title, date of birth, ethnic origin and Community Health Index (CHI) number;
  • Contact Data - this includes your address, email address and telephone number(s);
  • Family Data  - this includes family member identity data, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers;
  • Health Data  - this includes disabilities, details of long and short-term illnesses, details of accidents, your CHI number and other health services you are receiving;
  • Additional Data  - this includes any other information you may choose to share with us that you think is relevant.

Where we collect information about your health and ethnic origin, these are considered Special Categories of Personal Data (you can read more about Special Categories of Personal Data here). We do not collect or process any other Special Categories of Personal Data.

We may also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data, but is not considered personal data in law, as this data does not reveal your identity (directly or indirectly). However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data (so that it can directly or indirectly identify you), we treat the combined data as personal data which can only be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

How is your data used?

The law on data protection sets out a number of different reasons for which a company may collect and process personal data, including:

  • To allow us to enter into and/or perform our service agreement with you, and enable us to comply with our legal obligations, such as providing the service you have requested;
  • Where you have consented, for example when you provide us with details of carers and next-of-kin;
  • If the law requires us to, we may need to collect and process your data for example – to comply with the requirements of regulators such as the Care Inspectorate or Health and Safety Executive.
  • In specific situations we may require your personal data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of providing our services, and which does not materially impact your interests, rights or freedoms.

We will only use any personal data you send us for the purposes for which you provide it.

We review our retention periods for personal data on a regular basis. We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations (for example, tax records). We will hold your personal data on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or for as long as is set out in any relevant service agreement between us.

Who has access to your data?

Personal data that you provide to us is only accessed by authorised Alzheimer Scotland staff and volunteers, and approved third parties (see below), to meet the purposes for which your data is required.

We will never sell or rent your information to any third parties. We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Third Party Service Providers working on our behalf 

We may sometimes share your personal data with trusted third parties. For example, third party suppliers providing services on our behalf such as agency support workers working temporarily with us.

When we do share your data with third parties we only provide the information they need to perform the service or support. They may only use your data for the exact purpose we specify to them and we work closely with them to ensure your privacy is secure and respected.

Where we store your personal data

For the most part, your personal data will be stored in the UK. However, we do make use of service providers that are located in countries outside of the European Union (EU). As a result, personal data that we collect from you may be transferred to, accessed and/or stored outside the EU in order to provide our services.

If we do this, we have procedures in place to ensure your data receives the necessary protections. Any transfer of your personal data to countries outside the EU will only ever take place on the following conditions:

  • Adequate data protection measures are in place for the destination country, as determined by the European Commission
  • European Commission-approved model clauses are in place between us and any joint controller or processor.

For further details, please get in touch using the information provided in the ‘Contacting Us’ section.

How long will we keep your personal data?

We will only keep your personal data for as long as we need to in order to fulfil the relevant purpose(s) it was collected for, as set out in this Privacy Policy, and thereafter for as long as we need to keep it for legal purposes or a reasonable period as defined in our Retention Policy.

At the end of that period, your data will either be deleted or completely anonymised. For example, by aggregation with other data so that it can be used in a non-identifiable way for statistical analysis and business planning.

If You Fail to Provide Personal data

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a service agreement that we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the service agreement we have, or are trying to enter into with you. For example, we would need to gather this data to provide a service and some other forms of support to you. If you did not provide this data, we may have to cancel the provision of the service or support, but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

Your rights

Data protection laws provide you with the following rights to:

  • Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it;
  • Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected;
  • Request erasure of your personal information, this enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below);
  • Request the restriction of processing of your personal information, for example if you want to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it;
  • Request the transfer of your personal information to another party in specific circumstances; and
  • Request not to be subject to solely automated decisionsabout you (i.e., performed by a computer without human intervention). Note we do not conduct any automated decision-making.

You also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information where we are relying on your consent, or a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this basis         .

In all cases, use the contact details provided in the ‘Contacting Us’ section.

Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information

When you give us personal data, we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely. Our websites are protected with SSL certificates to secure and encrypt website traffic. Alzheimer Scotland has achieved the Cyber Essentials certification, which applies to the data processing systems that we manage.

How to make a complaint

If you have a complaint about how we use your personal data please contact us using the details provided in the ‘Contacting Us’ section. If you are not satisfied with our response, or how we handle your data, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office in one of the following ways:

If you are based outside the UK, you should contact your local supervisory authority. If in doubt, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

More Information

If you are still looking for more information, you can contact using the details in the ‘Contacting Us’ section.